Monthly Archives: January 2013

If it ever crossed your mind that the Stephanie Meyer (The Twilight Saga) or E L James (50 Shades of Grey) was a great writer, then stop reading. I didn’t write this for you.

The name was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. And no matter how you measure epicness, he was, by far, the best. And I just spent 15 minutes in front of my laptop not typing anything because I couldn’t even find an angle to start describing it without being overwhelmed by many other aspects that were just as worthy of mentioning if not more.

In 2001, Peter Jackson brought (or at least tried to bring) the astonishing letters to life. The Fellowship of The Ring, followed by The Two Towers (2002) and The Return of The King (2003) may have won less awards than Titanic (1997) or may have earned less money than The Avengers (2012), but none could argue that the impact, the image left inside the brain of the spectators, the breaths taken by the moments, and the whole epicness of the movies were more than anyone could’ve bargained for.

But still, Jackson lacked. It was to be understood as he was restricted by time and resources and other God-knows-what. But he lacked.

So this time, through a sequence of events preceeding those of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, Jackson brought us back one more time to the marvelous lands of Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Once again, starting from the Hobbit hole in Bag End, through the misty mountains, to the lonely ones where once the great dwarven kingdom Erebor lay, the Grey Wizard Gandalf and the uncles of some characters in the latter films set out for an adventure.

The Hobbit (book) was of a different mood from The Lord of The Rings (book). The scope was much smaller. The number of parallel storylines was also fewer. Even the scale of the evil was not as enormous. It was now that Jackson had it covered. He did a good job putting more signatures of Tolkien into the movie, thus providing us with more than just a story of an adventure pack. We got the chance to experience and absorb many of the cultures, musics, languages, natural riches, and mystics of the Middle Earth. At least more than the fast paced Lord of The Rings. And that was just LOVELY.

So all in all, this was a fantastic movie. It was not The Lord of The Rings. But it was never intented to be. So put your expectations high, but put it in the right compartment. Of course, anything more than this would be a spoiler. Or maybe not. Not that I cared, but whatever. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was expected to be terrific.

I have had this dream ever since I received my first roll of film from my first SLR camera that I bought second hand from a stranger almost fifteen years ago. I talked a lot to many people about it too. But like so many other dreams, it went unheeded most of the time. Not because the passion was not strong enough, but more because the notion of us, doing what we really wanted to do, was selfish. And we weren’t supposed to be selfish. Or at least, in this ever-demanding world, most of us couldn’t afford being selfish. Literally.

But every once in an even-rarer-than-the-blue-moon while, we were given the chances (or should I say, the challenges) to pursue the dream. Some let those chances go by (though often for the better). Some failed the challenges and waited for the next one. Few actually lived in their dreams now. And for the victors, they’re no longer considered selfish because by then, they could afford being it.

So, what gives?

I was one of those who didn’t dare expose themselves to the selfishness. And it served me well all these times. But then the chance came. Had it come a bit earlier, I wouldn’t have waited. Had it come a bit later, probably I’d have had more confidence (and capital) sealed. But I’m through with the ever-piling what-ifs in my life. And I’m especially through with my own dreams-will-be-dreams attitude, hiding a self pity behind a stronghold of responsibilities.

So here I stood today, as early as the first days of 2013, proudly (re)-presenting Crossroad Photography. My selfish alter-ego. I knew well that my several next steps would be wobbly at best. And that meant I would need all the support I could from whoever happened to read what I had here and probably telling some others about it.

In the end, some of us were given the privilege to be selfish. I was not. But I was not unlucky either for I found supporting hands that coped with all of these selfishness especially when not all people who cared for me and whom I cared for respect my decision. So help me God.